I advise you to hold off on looking at pictures until after you have read the section that the pictures correspond to. There are spoilers.

Amsterdam section (chapters 1-16)

Life before the war

Family photo at Spiersfelde early 1920s – Flo Spier stands seventh from left, Louis Spier stands 12th from left, Gerta stands 4th from right, Margret is standing on the far right, Bobby sits front and center. The house in the background was owned by Louis’s father and then his brother.

Spiersfelde from same angle 2016

Margret and Heinz’s wedding 1932 and a picture of a young Heinz as Margret placed it in the photo album. Note in upper corner says “I am filling these pages with pictures from all times that came from all possible places.”

A portrait of Flo (Margret’s mother) by Leisel Haas from 1930. This was taken in her home in Wickrath, Germany.

Flo and Louis Spier – Date unknown

Margret— pre-war —date unknown

Heinz — pre-war — date unknown

Margret and Heinz – date unknown – pre-war

Heinz with Tutti – 3 months old (The letters “Opi” in the bottom corner are from someone in my family labeling the picture. We called Heinz ‘Opi’ which comes from the German ‘Opa’ which means ‘Grandpa.’)

Tutti – Circa 1935

Flo with baby Tutti – probably 1935

Tutti about 2 years old

Tutti, Margret, and Robbie 1939, Knokke, Belgium

Tutti and Tineke, 1939, Knokke, Belgium

Robbie and Tutti in the sandbox behind their home on De Lairessestraat. If you look closely you can see the name Ruth written on the wall as if she was learning to write her name.

Top Row: Margret in Scheveningen, Aug 1934; Gerta and Margret at the Blauw Theehuis in the Vondelpark, Amsterdam; Robbie and Tutti June 1941. Bottom row: Juffi, Robbie, and Tutti in the sandbox at De Lairessestraat; Robbie in Knokke, Belgium, Summer 1939; Unidentified woman with Robbie, Tutti, and Poldi’s son Peter.

Bobby and Tineke wedding photo – January 6, 1940

4 De Lairessestraat

This is Tutti heading out on her date with Uncle Bobby and the same doorway in 2014

Life in Amsterdam

De Lairessestraat (2014) The Lichtensterns lived on the ground floor.

Tutti’s class photo from the Jewish school. Notice all the children wearing Stars of David. Tutti is standing in the third row two places to the left of the teacher.

Diezestraat (2014)

Entryway at Diezestraat 29

Entryway to Diezestraat 29 – I (2014) Notice the “V” painted on the bricks over the stairs. Apparently German shoulders were living here at one point and they painted the “V” there as a slogan for Victory. It was a German propaganda symbol against the Allies “V for Victory” campaign. See article here (in Dutch).

Afrikanerplein (2014)

Steep stairs to the 3rd floor and the front door of the apartment on Afrikanerplein (2014)

Leopold (Bobby) Klopfer

Building where the Klopfers lived on Michelangelostraat

Attic room at Michelangelostraat (2014)

Jakob Jorysch – who helped obtain the passport

Modern day Hollandsche Schouwburg where the Jews of Amsterdam were taken before being sent to Westerbork. It is a memorial center today.

Hollandsche Schouwburg Memorial. This is the area where people were held before deportation. The obelisk is in the area of the former stage.

Another view of the Memorial at the Jewish Theater

The memorial reads: In memory of those who were removed from here 1940-1945